Airlines have been accepting small packages for their next available flight. They typically accept packages weighing from one ounce or so to 70 pounds from independent shippers at counters for receiving small packages, and ship them in the next regularly scheduled passenger flight. At the airport, airlines generally verify the identity of a sender, prepare an airway bill, and they may make a record of package contents as reported by the sender. The package is then usually put into a unit load device (ULD) and put on a plane. These procedures are not optimal, especially in light of today's airport security and congestion problems.